5.12.2009

Why am I Still Watching 24?

I really don't know. I'm pretty sure that by any academic standard, it's awful. Here's what bugs me right now:

The whispering. All the hushed intensity. Who talks like that? No one, that's who.

Gratuitous violence. I'm just not a fan. Two episodes back, a handcuffed kid broke a mirror and stabbed his captor in the neck with one of the shards. It all happened in the blink of an eye with no explanation for why this kid has such a homicidal instinct. Are they telling us anyone is capable of this kind of thing under duress? Not to mention they showed way more than needed to. It's like implied-action is no longer available to filmmakers.

The plot-lines' constant reliance on there being turncoats very very high up in the government. I'm pretty cynical, but I think most of the government is made up of bureaucrats who are making a living, albeit jerkily at times. Not so many homicidal nihilists.

It's all happening in a day? This never used to bug me, but this season it's a real problem. That African warlord's men infiltrated the White House earlier this morning, and now Jack is fighting a nerve agent he's been exposed to, while Duncan from Seinfeld is about to hold his daughter randsom [see two above]?

I don't think so 24. You've worn out your welcome. For some reason though, I'm still going to watch your Season Finale.